Banned from Competition for 10 Years for Sexual Harassment
Xu Ke Denies Sexual Assault Allegations and Refutes the Claims
Xu Ke, a former Chinese table tennis player and husband of Jeon Ji-hee, who played for the South Korean national table tennis team for 10 years and achieved good results, has been banned from competition for 10 years. On the 13th, the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) found Xu Ke, a table tennis coach and former Chinese player, guilty of violating the anti-harassment policy. The ITTF imposed a 10-year competition ban on Xu.
Xu, who once ranked as high as 129th in the world table tennis player rankings, recently married Jeon Ji-hee, who naturalized to South Korea in 2011 and played as a national team member. Jeon officially retired last month and returned to China. It is known that Jeon, currently preparing for having a child with Xu, also participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics women's team event alongside players such as Shin Yu-bin and won a bronze medal.
However, Xu recently became embroiled in controversy. According to the ITTF investigation, on the early morning of January 1, 2021, Xu invited four people who were attending a training camp to his hotel room to continue the New Year's celebration that had started the day before. Among the four were players belonging to the South Korean and Hong Kong table tennis teams. The female victim stated that when other players tried to leave the room, she also wanted to leave but was persuaded by Xu to stay longer.
When the victim returned to her room, Xu contacted her via an online messenger, asking where her room was and saying he wanted to talk. The victim repeatedly told Xu her room number but also said she was tired and wanted to sleep. The ITTF later claimed that Xu knocked on her door and forcibly entered, committing sexual assault.
On the 9th, Xu issued a statement denying the sexual assault allegations and refuting the ITTF's claims. Xu said, "An American table tennis player asked me to coach her," and "When that player wanted to continue the conversation in her room, I talked with her for less than a minute." He added, "This ruling is a serious distortion of the facts," and said, "There is no physical evidence or police record regarding the incident claimed by the ITTF, only the unilateral statement of the player who claims to be the victim." In response, the ITTF stated, "The hearing committee tried to involve Xu in several hearing procedures, but he did not respond to any requests and did not participate in the hearings," and "He did not officially submit anything to defend himself."
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